Everyday Beauty

118. A Vision of Yemen by Sheikh Hassan Al Thani

This is a fabulous collection of photographs of Yemen, by a skilled photographer. There are many views of the landscape, which I hadn’t realised was so green, but also portraits of men, boys, and one older woman. Fully covered anonymous women do appear in a few urban settings, alone or in pairs (this is not a book to look for crowd scenes in). Every house, and most items of clothing, appears to be carefully embellished, with simple and effective patterns.

119. Decorative Stencils by Kathryn Collyer and Carol Daniel

My mother gave me this very informative book/kit a few years ago, but I’ve never had/taken the opportunity to use it. I don’t think I’ve actually mentioned that part of the reason I’ve been so quiet over the last week or so is that my housemate and I are moving. Anyhow, there’s an old battered bedside locker in my new room, that’s dirty and covered in splashes of paint, which the landlord told me to throw away, unless I wanted to repaint it — he has got me a better one either way — so I’m thinking about doing that, and trying out stenciling it. The base colour is very similar to the walls in my room, so if I can I might retain that and then decorate it. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Tags: A Vision of Yemen, books, Carol Daniel, Decorative Stencils, Kathryn Collyer, photography, Sheikh Hassan al Thani, stenciling, stencils, Yemen